Chapter 2: Cognitive & Linguistic Development

1. Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development

1.1. Sensorimotor Stage

1.1.1. Birth - 2 Years

1.2. Preoperational Stage

1.2.1. 2 - 6 or 7

1.3. Concrete Operations Stage

1.3.1. 6 or 7 - 11 or 12

1.4. Formal Operations Stage

1.4.1. 11or 12 -

2. General Principles of Human Development

2.1. The sequence of development is somewhat predictable

2.2. Children develop at different rates

2.3. Development is often marked by periods of relatively rapid growth between periods of slower growth

2.4. Heredity and environment interact in their effects on development

3. Vygotsky's Assumptions

3.1. Through both informal conversations and formal schooling, adults convey to children the ways in which their culture interprets and responds to the world

3.2. Every culture passes along physical and cognitive tools that make daily living more productive and efficient

3.3. Thought and language become increasingly interdependent in the first few years of life

3.4. Complex mental processes begin as social activities and gradually evolve into internal mental activities that children can use independently

3.5. Children appropriate their culture's tools in their own idiosyncratic manner

3.6. Children can accomplish more difficult tasks when assisted by more advanced and competent individuals

3.7. Play allows children to cognitively "stretch" themselves